Context
Recently, Trinamool Congress leader, Mahua Moitra, appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee that has been enquiring regarding the BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegations that Moitra accepted bribes and favours for asking questions in the Lok Sabha on behalf of businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
About Ethics Committee
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee was formed in August 2015 with the objective of supervising the moral and ethical conduct of the members of Parliament (MPs). Earlier in 2000, an ad hoc ethics panel was formed by the Lok Sabha, which was later given the status of a permanent standing committee, thereby leading to the formation of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee. It acts as an important constituent of the Lok Sabha and is instrumental in keeping an eye on the moral and ethical conduct of MPs in India. This committee is also authorised to deal with the complaints against these members regarding several ethical crimes.
The Speaker of the Lok Sabha appoints the members of the ethics committee for a term of one year. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee consists of 15 members from different political parties. Currently, these members include Aparajita Sarangi, Dr Rajdeep Roy, Dr Subhash Bhamre, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Sunita Duggal, and Vishnu Datt Sharma from the BJP; Balashowry Vallabbhaneni from the YSR congress; N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Preneet Kaur, and V. Vaithilingam from the Congress; Kunwar Danish Ali from the BSP; Hemant Godse from the Shiv Sena; P.R. Natarajan from the CPI (M); and Giridhari Yadav from the JD(U) along with Vinod Kumar Sonkar, the head of the committee.
Background Aimed at maintaining the ethical conduct of the members of Parliament, the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has its origin in discussions held at a Presiding Officers’ Conference that took place in New Delhi in the year 1996. Though the concept of forming ethics panels for both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha was proposed during this conference, the formation of the ethics committee took place only after a number of years.
At first, it was the Rajya Sabha that took the necessary steps in this direction. The ethics committee of the upper House was set up by K.R. Narayanan, the then Vice President of India and also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on March 4, 1997, and began its operations on May 30, 1947. The rules, with respect to the procedure and other related matters that are followed by the committee of privileges became applicable to the ethics committee too. However, the rules applicable to the ethics committee may have certain modifications or may vary occasionally as per the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
However, it took several more years for the ethics committee for the Lok Sabha to be formed. In 1997, at the time of the 11th Lok Sabha, a Study Group formed by the Lok Sabha Committee of Privileges travelled to the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia to learn about the best practices followed in these countries with respect to the parliamentary ethics, privileges, and other such matters. As a result, this group reported the different aspects of parliamentary ethics and privileges in these countries. It also specified the need for an ethics committee and suggested its formation. But the Lok Sabha could not materialise it then, as it was dissolved. It was only at the time of the 13th Lok Sabha that the formation of an ethics committee was formally proposed to the committee of privileges, which stated that a distinct ethics committee should be established in the Lok Sabha. So, on May 16, 2000, an ad hoc ethics committee was formed by G.M.C. Balayogi, the late Speaker of the 13th Lok Sabha. However, it was not until 2015 that the committee was given a permanent status; thereby, giving it the responsibility of supervising the ethical conduct of the members of the Lok Sabha.
Its Functions
In order to maintain the standards of Parliament, the ethics committee is required to
- lay down a set of code of conduct for the members of the committee;
- review this code and modify it accordingly on a regular basis;
- supervise the ethical and moral conduct of the members; and
- analyse the cases (or complaints) of any misconduct submitted to the committee with reference to the ethical and moral standard, thereby making appropriate recommendations.
The complaints referred to the ethics committee must be stated in respectful language without the use of any foul words. No other language shall be used in a complaint except for Hindi or English. However, if the use of any other language is done in the complaint, its translated version in Hindi or English should be mentioned along with it. At the end of the complaint, the signature of the complainant must be there.
Procedure for Filing a Complaint
A complaint can be filed against any member of the Lok Sabha by any citizen of the country. However, the complainant is required to take the assistance of a Lok Sabha MP. Besides, he/she should provide relevant evidence of the alleged misconduct along with an affidavit. The affidavit should declare that the complaint is true and that it is not petty or irksome. However, if the complaint is filed by an MP, he/she is not required to submit any affidavit.
Having completed a preliminary inquiry and in the absence of a prima facie case, the committee may not take the matter further. Besides, the complaints filed on the basis of media reports or on sub judice matters may not be taken up by the committee. However, after doing a prima facie inquiry, the committee analyses the complaint and then gives its recommendations in a report form.
The report is then submitted to the Speaker by the committee. The Speaker then takes the consent of the House if the report should be discussed, and accordingly, it is laid on the Table of the House. Besides, the Government has provided that a half-hour discussion can be done on the same.
Difference between the Ethics Committee and the Privileges Committee
The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha addresses merely the issues related to the misconduct of MPs; whereas, the privileges committee addresses several other issues apart from the issues of misconduct on the part of an MP, such as the issues associated with the authority, freedom, and dignity of Parliament. The privileges committee is required to protect these privileges, as not only the MPs individually but also the House as a whole is entitled to these privileges. The privileges committee is authorised to deal with the issues of both MPs as well as non-MPs. That is, it can investigate cases of misconduct, or cases harming the dignity of Parliament, or cases threatening the authority of Parliament, by both a non-MP or an MP.
Thus, either of the aforesaid bodies can deal with the allegation of misconduct against an MP. However, more severe matters of allegations are tackled by the privileges committee.
Conclusion
The ethics committee plays a vital role in maintaining the standards and values of Parliament. However, it can be effective only if the parliamentarians follow the highest ethical conduct within the democratic system of the country.
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